agent framework
LangChain vs LangGraph
LangGraph is LangChain's own next-generation runtime. It's the recommended way to build stateful, branching agents — LangChain proper still ships but LangGraph is where new patterns land.
Contender A
LangChain
Original LangChain framework
Contender B
LangGraph
Graph-based agent runtime
Side-by-side comparison
Metric
LangChain
LangGraph
Control flow
Chains (LCEL)
Graphs (nodes + edges)
State
Stateless by default
First-class persistent state
Best for
Linear pipelines
Cycles, branching, HITL
Status
Stable
Recommended for new agents
When LangChain is the right pick
Simple pipelines (input → retriever → LLM → output).
When LangGraph is the right pick
Real agents: cycles, human-in-loop, streaming state.
Verdict
Start new agent work on LangGraph. Keep LangChain for short deterministic chains.
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